tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1848062090088073944.post5936207737696270650..comments2011-02-14T08:04:05.301-07:00Comments on Harris Times: Public Service Employee Unions/The Paralysis of the StateHarrris Timeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15068253615244808625noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1848062090088073944.post-68336352430029647422011-02-14T08:04:05.301-07:002011-02-14T08:04:05.301-07:00I can&#39;t speak for the City of Phx or Maricopa ...I can&#39;t speak for the City of Phx or Maricopa County but the majority of the State of Arizona employees don&#39;t like unions and are not in unions. This can be verified by a public records request to the State of Arizona, Dept of Administration. They barely had enough members in unions to maintain the paycheck deduction for those actually in a union a few years ago. That being said, there is still a problem with the cost of the pension plans. First and foremost the Elected Officials Retirement Program should go. Why do they have a pension plan when they are term limited...and look at the benefit. Now then, that leave us with the Arizona State Retirement System (ASRS) and Public Safety Personnel Retirement System (Officers/Firefighters,etc) and Correctional Officer Retirement System (CORP). CORP is 100% funded for the Department of Corrections due to their high turnover rate. the ASRS use to be 110% funded until the Legislature reduced their contribution rate back in the early 90s to give employees a &quot;raise&quot;. Yeah, how did that work out! They also changed the benefit structure to increase the benefit, allow for buy-back of other time from other states without the actuarial monies being paid to the fund, and then began to allow those who retired to talk all of the retirement contributions (state and employee&#39;s plus interest with them). These actions combined with market drops send the plan below needed funding levels. PSPRS (for officers and firefighters) was established to provide a greater benefit to these individuals due to high risk employment. The problem is the contributions don&#39;t pay for the benefit. For the state, why have 3 plans (ASRS, PSPRS and CORP)? Have one plan, one benefit structure and have the contribution rates reflect the cost. Get rid of elected officials retirement and give them a simple 401K. Kirk Adams is trying to make the plans stable. We&#39;ll see how this session goes. Don&#39;t blame the unions. They really have no power in state government. These funds are in a mess due to the Legislature doing a bad job!Pamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01891110101570909496noreply@blogger.com